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Roanoke, VA / Bluefield, WV - HDTV - Page 195

post #5821 of 6045
2/6/12 at 4:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trip in VA View Post

Given how few stations reside in the low-VHF band (less than 40 full-power stations nationwide, with more than half of those on 5 and 6), it would not surprise me if some tuners were not well-built or well-tested for that band.

You'll probably want to look into a bigger antenna for WBRA. There's no such thing as "too big" when you start talking about trying to receive low-VHF.

- Tripp

Along with that, I am finding a lot of the new antennas are being built not even covering the lower band of VHF in their specs. public is paying for antennas that may not even get the channel.

David S.
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post #5822 of 6045
2/6/12 at 4:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jordan View Post

(and who did WBRA piss off at the FCC to get VHF Ch. 3?!?)

That was long before I got here. Working with what I have.

David S.
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post #5823 of 6045
2/12/12 at 3:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trip in VA View Post

WSLS is pretty compressed, only WBRA is worse.

- Trip

I have adjusted 15.1 to 12.1 , 15.2 to 2.2 and 15.3 stays at 3.1 for now.

David S.
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post #5824 of 6045
2/17/12 at 11:49am
Just saw NY Times article the says the 'Payroll Tax Extension' bill is tied to selling the VHF tv spectrum which includes our ch 3 and 13.
Am I reading this correctly?
Please those with more knowledge enlighten us.
Thanks
Bernieoc
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post #5825 of 6045
2/17/12 at 1:13pm
Are you sure you are not getting your "U"s and "V"s mixed-up?
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post #5826 of 6045
2/17/12 at 1:48pm
oops - do I have it backwards - I mean the low channels
Bernieoc
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post #5827 of 6045
2/17/12 at 5:33pm
Thread Starter 
High channels. That's all it's ever meant. I wish we were so lucky as to have 2-6 go away.

- Trip
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post #5828 of 6045
2/18/12 at 4:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trip in VA View Post

High channels. That's all it's ever meant. I wish we were so lucky as to have 2-6 go away.

- Trip

I agree with that, Trip. At least during this I have one solid channel that will not be moving, WBRA, but can't say the same for WMSY or WSBN, unless they leave rural and smaller markets alone, which is not likely.

David S.
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post #5829 of 6045
2/18/12 at 4:45am
Thread Starter 
Can't say I would ever call WBRA a "solid" channel based on reception of it...

I think WSBN is probably safe, as it seems like due to the reservation of channel 37 for radio astronomy, it would seem that channels 38-51 are most at-risk. While this wouldn't impact the rest of our market directly, it could matter if adjacent-market stations have to move around, particularly WFMY-51 Greensboro which is a highly at-risk station.

- Trip
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post #5830 of 6045
2/19/12 at 10:24am
I'm still using a temporary ($35.00) antenna in the attic. I'm getting all the channels with 26-30db SNR except one. Not even a blip on the radar
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post #5831 of 6045
2/20/12 at 11:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trip in VA View Post

Can't say I would ever call WBRA a "solid" channel based on reception of it...

- Trip

What I mean by solid is I don't have worry about anyone taking my channel including the FCC or anyone else wanting to co-locate with me...lol.

-David S.
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post #5832 of 6045
2/20/12 at 12:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueRidgeEng View Post

What I mean by solid is I don't have worry about anyone taking my channel including the FCC or anyone else wanting to co-locate with me...lol.

To beat the channel 3 horse one more time (and I realize that David had nothing to do with that selection), the RabbitEars "Facility Comparison" tool shows the only other stations "nearby" on channel 3 in Gaspesie, Quebec and Key West, Florida.

Hypothetically, if WBRA were to get an increase to 30 kW (as did WPVI, albeit at a lower height) would that result in any improvement at all? Might the increased power density overcome the main problem of QRM?
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post #5833 of 6045
2/20/12 at 12:56pm
wdbjalan,

FYI, we ran a man in the street package (well the reporter found a house with a fire in the fireplace) from your guys this morning that I guess came down NSS (or whatever it is called these days). Good package. Nice work by the reporter. Wished I remembered her name.
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post #5834 of 6045
2/22/12 at 7:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by foxeng View Post

wdbjalan,

FYI, we ran a man in the street package (well the reporter found a house with a fire in the fireplace) from your guys this morning that I guess came down NSS (or whatever it is called these days). Good package. Nice work by the reporter. Wished I remembered her name.

Well - I will pass this along.. I am sure the news people would remember what story this was.. Thanks
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post #5835 of 6045
3/2/12 at 7:37pm
Why the heck is Seinfeld stretched to fill the screen on WWCW-HD 21.1?

And on it's SD 21.2 alternate it is stretched and cut off on the sides.
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post #5836 of 6045
3/4/12 at 10:43am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueRidgeEng View Post

I have adjusted 15.1 to 12.1 , 15.2 to 2.2 and 15.3 stays at 3.1 for now.

David S.

At my parents' house for the weekend, and can't help but notice the bitrates are now 11/3/3.

Also cannot help but notice that the schedule indicates Phantom of the Opera will air at 1:30, and it is now 1:43 and no Phantom yet.

- Trip
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post #5837 of 6045
3/4/12 at 12:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trip in VA View Post


At my parents' house for the weekend, and can't help but notice the bitrates are now 11/3/3.

Also cannot help but notice that the schedule indicates Phantom of the Opera will air at 1:30, and it is now 1:43 and no Phantom yet.

- Trip

I had them changed, then I started having more viewer complaints from the SD side including cable companies still using .2 (more than I thought did). I put them back to do further research on the matter. I may be having other issues with the stream. Should get back to it this week.

We are in Spring Festival, so that might be why the schedule is off with the programs, but I will look into it.

Any luck with your Tandberg project we talked about?

DavidS.
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post #5838 of 6045
3/4/12 at 3:29pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueRidgeEng View Post

I had them changed, then I started having more viewer complaints from the SD side including cable companies still using .2 (more than I thought did). I put them back to do further research on the matter. I may be having other issues with the stream. Should get back to it this week.

I hope you are able to move them to the HD feed sooner rather than later and kill 15-2. The HD pixelated pretty badly during Masquerade in particular on Phantom of the Opera this afternoon. It didn't look like that off the satellite feed last weekend.

The endless dropouts were even more annoying, but there's nothing that can be done about that short of moving to a superior channel.

Despite all of that, thanks for all your do. It is appreciated.

Quote:
We are in Spring Festival, so that might be why the schedule is off with the programs, but I will look into it.

Even the Festival Schedule on the BRPBS website said 1:30 so it really shouldn't have started at 2, but such is the way of the world, I suppose.

Quote:
Any luck with your Tandberg project we talked about?

DavidS.

We decided to go a different direction entirely. There may be one or two odd cases where it makes sense to do something like that, but I haven't reached them yet.

- Trip
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post #5839 of 6045
3/12/12 at 9:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueRidgeEng View Post

I had them changed, then I started having more viewer complaints from the SD side including cable companies still using .2 (more than I thought did).

Are these cable companies getting your signal OTA or fiber? Do the other commercial networks provide a SD signal to cable companies?
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post #5840 of 6045
3/12/12 at 3:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete-N2 View Post


Are these cable companies getting your signal OTA or fiber? Do the other commercial networks provide a SD signal to cable companies?

Most get the signal OTA, Cox gets it from fiber and sends that fiber to Comcast. No commercial stations are running an SD channel to feed the cable companies. When I came here most were taking the HD and center cutting it for their SD tier, I guess since we left it up most went back to using the SD since it was available.

David S.
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post #5841 of 6045
3/13/12 at 11:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete-N2 View Post

To my surprise that antenna works better that the outdoor antenna! All quality levels are 70 to 95% and SNR's are around 29dB the lowest being 26dB.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...0b86868e8e46e5

After a couple of days I noticed a few interesting things. Although the SNR's continued to be fantastic the number of decode errors increased significantly. With the outdoor antenna for evening viewing I was averaging less that one decode error a week. With the attic antenna I was getting 3 or 4 errors per night. It was hard to get through a one hour show with out an interruption in the sound. Turning off lights that were near the antenna also caused decode errors even on UHF channels.

Then the weather changed and the winds started gusting to 50 MPH and with each stong gust, 3 or 4 decode errors with every gust and several when it was relatively calm. 13 was pretty good, 21 located next to it was pretty bad. 27 was not viewable. 7 was barely tolerable (I refused to watch), 10 was reasonable. I assumed the problem was rapidly shifting multipath. I tried moving the antenna to different locations in the attic and tried several angles (I assume this antenna is basically an omni) to try to reduce the frequency of the errors. 20 degrees clockwise seemed better, (lower SNR's but less errors). This was a very pain staking process. Twist the antenna then watch TV for 15 or 20 minutes and try to determine how many gusts and how many errors. Is it better? Maybe.

I not sure how you adjust an antenna in the digital age especially in a mountainous area. How do you analyze multipath? Also I think when possible a directional antenna is preferable to an omni. I wounder if the increased number of errors was due to multipath or impulse noise generated closer to the antenna.

I'm back on the outside antenna now and that's another story...
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post #5842 of 6045
3/13/12 at 6:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete-N2 View Post

I not sure how you adjust an antenna in the digital age especially in a mountainous area. How do you analyze multipath?

Next time I'm passing through, I could drop in with my spectrum analyzer if you'd like.

- Trip
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post #5843 of 6045
3/13/12 at 9:12pm
Thread Starter 
For anyone following the on-going saga that was WDRL and is now WEFC, the station has been sold to Jones Broadcasting, which owns WAZT in the Shenandoah Valley.

- Trip
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post #5844 of 6045
3/14/12 at 1:43pm
Trip,

Thanks for the offer. I might take you up on it after I get the results of the next wind storm -- but you should not need a spectrum analyzer and the skills to use it to adjust an antenna.
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post #5845 of 6045
3/14/12 at 8:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trip in VA View Post

For anyone following the on-going saga that was WDRL and is now WEFC, the station has been sold to Jones Broadcasting, which owns WAZT in the Shenandoah Valley.

- Trip

I have not seen the signal on the air, yet. Probably issues with the transmitter, like the receiver that had the station post MNE Broadcasting,LLC. seems like he couldn't keep it on the air or at least that's the paperwork trail he left. I hated to see the signal wasting away doing nothing.
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post #5846 of 6045
3/31/12 at 11:47am
Looks like the new prospective owners of WEFC (ex-WDRL) are taking a minimum of equipment from the current operation. Check out the listing here . . . http://www.jessemeeks.com

Just looking over what's up for sale, most of it is analog studio and transmitter equipment, not very useful for a broadcaster in the digital age. There are satellite receivers for sale, and dishes of some sort.

I did notice one interesting piece of digital transmitter equipment...a 250-watt "Pineapple" transmitter, fixed-tuned to Channel 41, but no evidence of either an exciter or encoder, both of which would be necessary to put TV programming on the air.

I might show up out there just to see if those items might be mis-labeled.
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post #5847 of 6045
3/31/12 at 2:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt Smith-WGSR View Post

Looks like the new prospective owners of WEFC (ex-WDRL) are taking a minimum of equipment from the current operation. Check out the listing here . . . http://www.jessemeeks.com

Just looking over what's up for sale, most of it is analog studio and transmitter equipment, not very useful for a broadcaster in the digital age. There are satellite receivers for sale, and dishes of some sort.

I did notice one interesting piece of digital transmitter equipment...a 250-watt "Pineapple" transmitter, fixed-tuned to Channel 41, but no evidence of either an exciter or encoder, both of which would be necessary to put TV programming on the air.

I might show up out there just to see if those items might be mis-labeled.

Hey Matt,

The equipment listed is mostly leftover analog items and extra equipment that was taken out of the Crossroads Mall facility when WDRL moved to the Cave Spring location. The transmitter was the original UHF 41 digital that was put on the air when the transition started. It was made by K-Tech, the encoder and the exciter was taken to the top of Smith Mountain where the newer 2.5kw transmitter was located. I was a part of loading the building full of this equipment when we moved. Most of the digital equipment was last seen at the transmitter facility on top of Smith Mountain or at the Cave Spring location, which has now been turned into a dry cleaners. The dishes you see in the pictures are for microwave and the Andrews boxes has all the parts to mount them. The Covers should be there somewhere too. If you have any specific questions you can contact me directly.

Good Luck,

David S.
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post #5848 of 6045
4/8/12 at 1:38am
Short-time reader, first-time poster here.

Have been doing some homework before my fiancee and I pull the plug on DISH Network, and I'm quickly learning that the Roanoke-Lynchburg DMA is...special.

We're in the southwest portion of Christiansburg, up on a hill near the US-11/VA-8 intersection. Our townhouse is a rental, and we're really limited to whatever antenna I can set up in our living room. It sounds like trying to pick up WSET/W05AA and WBRA might be an entirely futile effort*. With my limitations, is there any hope?

I've been flipping through Amazon, but those reviews are only so helpful and I'm finding most of them give me no option for picking up at least Lo-V, if not all of the VHF spectrum. Any products I should specifically look at?

- Dan

*An attic mount might be an option, but AFAIK I've got no way to run it to the first floor. Roof mount is entirely out.
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post #5849 of 6045
4/8/12 at 6:45am
Thread Starter 
I've got a friend in Blacksburg who, with his roof antenna, does successfully receive both WBRA and WSET, and in fact WBRA is his strongest signal. I suspect that if your antenna is large enough size-wise, WBRA might be doable even indoors, if you can get it away from any interference generators.

WSET, however, will probably be weak enough that an outdoor antenna will be needed. That said, if you're on a hill, anything is possible.

I doubt you will find anything good for receiving low-VHF on an indoor antenna product because most people just don't want something that large. When I lived in Roanoke (the city), I was able to use a very large indoor antenna I made myself for getting WBRA (barely). It broke up any time a motor ran, but was certainly better than nothing. If you would like to see some pictures, let me know; other than a $5 or so balun, I was able to use materials I already had lying around.

- Trip
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post #5850 of 6045
4/8/12 at 7:35am
Dan,
Reception with indoor antennas in the NRV is iffy, but WBRA is actually rather strong. I have received it and WDBJ with rabbit ears and an amplifier. I think you are in a much better location for reception than I am. An indoor antenna might work for you for everything except WSET.
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